Victims of Circumstance
by Chrissy G
Summary: Lip/OC pairing, with others mixed in. When Callie Madison moved to South-side Chicago, her father warned her to stay away from the Gallagher family. But after the Gallagher family comes to her rescue, she finds herself unable to stay away.
1. Chapter 1

Victims of Circumstance

A Shameless fanfic by Chrissy G.

 **Summary: When Callie Madison moved to South-side Chicago, her father warned her to stay away from the Gallagher family. But after the Gallagher family comes to her rescue, she finds herself unable to stay away.**

Chapter One: Shameless Parenting

It had been such a long train ride from New York, but Callie Madison was finally in Illinois. Just a final, short bus trip and she would finally be there. Surely her father would be waiting for her at the bus stop, just as he had done for every other time Callie had visited. This time, however, her stay would be permanent.

Callie let out a long sigh as she thought back to her grandmother. She had taken Callie in after her mother passed away. Callie's dad had never really been in the picture, but she did get an occasional visit with him. Now that her grandmother had also passed away, Callie would have to live with her father. She was looking forward to starting a new job in Chicago and had hopes that it would provide her with the means to get her own place. Being an adult child still living with your parents was no picnic.

As the bus rounded the corner, Callie started to gather her things. She knew she was getting close to her father's house. When the bus pulled up to the stop, Callie stood. She noticed the guy across the aisle stand up as well. The two looked at each other for a moment. The guy had tousled, dirty blond hair and striking blue eyes. A cigarette was tucked behind his right ear. He was slightly taller than Callie and looked to be about the same age.

"Ladies first," the guy said, motioning Callie ahead of him.

"Thanks," Callie said, giving him a small smile.

Callie moved out into the main aisle and headed towards the front of the bus, pulling a rolling suitcase behind her and aware of the hot-as-fuck guy following her. She had taken notice of his muscles in a short-sleeved, button-down shirt and ripped jeans. She was hoping to maybe talk him up, but as she descended the bus steps, she saw her father waiting for her on the corner.

"Hi, Callie," Mr. Madison said with a smile. He greeted her further with a hug and kiss on the forehead.

"Hey, dad," Callie replied.

She glanced over to see that the guy lingered for just a moment before walking off down the street, pulling the cigarette from behind his ear and placing it between his lips.

"Callie?"

She turned back to her father. "What?"

"I saw that."

"Saw what?"

Mr. Madison motioned to the guy from the bus. "That is one of the Gallagher boys and that is one guy you do not want to get mixed up with. Not him or any member of his family."

Callie's brow furrowed. "Why? What's wrong with them?"

Mr. Madison let out a long sigh. "All of them are nothing but trouble. That's all you need to know. Now come on. Let's get you settled in."

Callie nodded and followed her dad to the house. Still, she couldn't shake thoughts about the guy from the bus. The Gallagher boy. She wondered how it was that her dad knew that this guy was no good. Maybe he and his family were nothing but trouble makers. Or maybe dad was just being overprotective, which was often the case. Being that her dad was a police officer, it was something Callie just had to deal with.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Shameless Girls Night

Callie settled in her new life in Chicago fairly easily. She secured a job working as an assistant teacher at a daycare. She was assigned to a classroom of four and five-year olds who were preparing for kindergarten. By the end of the first week, Callie had memorized the names of all the children in her class and started to build friendships with the staff.

On Friday afternoon, the Kindergarten teacher approached her. She was a perky thirty-five-year old. She wore a pink button-down shirt, black pants and black flats. Callie noticed marker smudges on her left hand.

"Hey, Callie," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Emily," Callie said.

"Well, you successfully got through your first week of school. You deserve a reward."

"Great. Give a smiley face sticker and we'll call it a day."

Emily laughed. "No, silly. I mean like drinks. Alcohol. Party."

Callie's eyebrows raised. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. A bunch of us are going out tonight. You should come."

"Who's all going?"

"Me, Tammy from the infant room, April the lunch lady, and Melissa the art teacher. We're going to The Alibi Room."

Callie thought about it for a minute. It would be nice to build up more rapport with her co-workers and get out to see what kind of nightlife Chicago had to offer her.

"You know what?" Callie said. "I'll go."

"Great!" Emily said. "Meet you there at eight."

Callie smiled. She collected her things and headed for the bus stop. It was a twenty-minute bus ride to her house. The whole week long, she kept checking to see if the Gallagher boy might be on the bus again. So far, he and Callie had not made any of the same bus trips.

She put it out of her mind for now. Tonight, she was going out with girls. Callie came home to an empty house. After a little bit of housework and a quick dinner, she went to her dresser and picked out a pair of black skinny jeans and a red halter top. She paired the outfit with low black heels. She put on a pair of hoop earrings and some makeup. A little bit of product in her dark, brown hair and she was ready to go. When she looked up the Alibi Room on her phone, she found that it wasn't far from her house and decided to walk it.

Callie walked into the bar and looked around. It looked like a complete dive, but it had a little bit of charm to it. It seemed that there were some who were frequent customers. She spotted the work girls sitting at a table in the corner. Callie walked over and sat down with them.

"Hey, Vee!" Melissa shouted at the bartender. "Round of shots. The usual."

"Sure thing, sweetness!" the female bartender yelled back.

April yelled at the game on TV and Tammy bopped her head in time to the soft rock music coming out of the overhead speakers. Emily struck up a conversation with Callie about a student she had in her class whose younger sister was in Callie's class. A minute later, Vee came over with the shots. Emily raised her glass and the others followed.

"To Callie," she said. "Making it through her first week in one piece."

"Only forty more years to go," Melissa said.

The girls all laughed and clinked their glasses before knocking them back. The drink was sweet, just like Callie liked.

"Anything else, ladies?" Vee asked.

They ordered another round of shots and their drinks of choice. As Vee headed back to the bar to get the drinks, the door swung open.

"Gallagher brothers in the house!" Vee yelled.

Callie's ears perked up and she quickly turned in her seat. Sure enough, the guy from the bus was walking into the bar, followed by a skinny red head. His brother? His Irish twin, maybe. They looked to be very close in age and had slight resemblances in their features. Vee hugged the red head and the regulars seemed happy to see him as well.

Emily put her hand on Callie's shoulder. "See something you like over there?" she asked.

Callie turned back to her. She shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, shit," April said. "Let's bring them over and make an introduction."

Callie's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah," April said. "Meet the locals."

"No," Callie said. "No, no, no."

Too late. "Hey, Gallagher!" Melissa yelled.

Callie instantly felt heat begin to rise to her cheeks. The two boys turned to Melissa and she motioned them over. The boys grabbed their drinks and came over to the table.

"Hey, Melissa," the red head said. "What's going on?"

"Work meeting," Melissa replied with a giggle. "You know everybody. And this is the new girl, Callie. Been with us a week now."

"Cool," the red head replied.

"Callie, meet Ian..." The red head raised his glass to her. "And Lip Gallagher." The guy from the bus gave her a small smile, which she impulsively returned.

"Care to join us?" April asked.

"Hell yeah," Ian said. "I need to catch up."

Then he and Lip pulled chairs over from the next table and sat down, landing Lip right next to Callie. A new song came on the radio that got the Ian and Tammy excited. They began to sing along loudly. Vee came over a minute later with drinks for the girls.

"Whatcha drinking?" Lip asked Callie.

"Vodka and cranberry," Callie replied. "You?"

"Coke."

"There's nothing else in that Coke?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm the, uh…designated sober person, if you will."

Callie nodded. "So, is Lip a nickname or do your parents just hate you that much?"

He gave her a half- smile. "It's short for Phillip."

Callie thought it over for a moment. "I kinda like it."

"Thanks. So do I."

They both chuckled. Suddenly, Lip's cell phone started to make noise. He dug it out of his pocket and silenced an alarm. Then he looked up at his brother.

"Ian, we gotta go."

"Already?" Ian asked.

"Hey, you knew it was going to be a quick trip."

Ian rolled his eyes and starting chugging the rest of his beer. Lip stood, taking some money from his pocket and putting it on the table.

"Sorry to leave so quick," he said. "You ladies enjoy your evening. Callie, it was nice meeting you."

"You, too," Callie replied.

Lip started for the door, then stopped and turned back. "Tick tock, Cinderella!"

Ian placed his now empty glass on the table. "I'm coming!" he yelled at his brother and he followed him out the door.

Melissa turned to Callie. "Well? What do you think?"

"Oh, come on, Melissa," she said. "I only just met them."

"For like five minutes," Tammy added.

"Enough time to fall in love," April teased.

"For you, maybe," Emily retorted.

The girls shared a hearty laugh and sipped their drinks. Callie glanced at the door before turning back to talking with the girls. The five minutes that she did get to socialize with Lip and Ian Gallagher left her a fairly decent impression of them. They seemed nice enough. She couldn't fathom what it was that had made her father think so negatively of them. Now that Callie had a chance to meet them, maybe they really weren't so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Shameless Defenders

A few hours and several drinks later, Callie and the girls walked out of the bar and onto the sidewalk. Melissa and Tammy were giggling at nothingness and stumbling over one another.

"So," Emily said to Callie. "I think we're gonna catch an Uber. You need a ride?"

"No, thanks," Callie said. "I'm not that far from here."

"Alright. Shoot me a text when you get home."

"Night, Callie!" Melisa yelled.

Callie gave her a wave and started for home. The night was still fairly warm with a light breeze. One thing she had to admit, she did have fun. Drinking, talking, having a few laughs. It felt great to get in some adult socializing. And when she told Lip Gallagher that it was nice to meet him, she wasn't just making simple pleasantries.

A few blocks away, Callie started to get a strange feeling. She looked around and a saw a group of guys standing on the street corner. They cat-called her and made obscene gestures. Callie scoffed and continued walking. As she walked on, she started to hear the sound of footsteps behind her. Her heart starting beating faster at the thought of being followed. She started to walk faster, but the footsteps continued.

Callie swore under her breath. She started to run. The footsteps behind her came faster and louder. A moment later, Callie was knocked to the ground and dragged into an alleyway. Two guys held her down while a third guy tried to undo her jeans. Callie screamed, struggling to free herself.

"Shut up, stupid cunt!" one of the guys yelled at her.

Callie continued to scream, aware of hands on her legs in an attempt to pull off her pants. Then she heard loud, angry screams from down the street and pounding footsteps coming towards her. She heard the guys swear and the three of them took off running.

"Yeah, you'd better run, assholes!"

Callie curled up into the fetal position, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. As the footsteps slowed, she was surrounded by another group of people. She didn't dare move, but she could see three pairs of sneakers approaching her.

"Holy shit," Callie heard a male voice say. He stepped closer and knelt down in front of her, placing a baseball bat on the ground. "Callie?"

Callie willed herself to look up and found herself locking eyes with Lip Gallagher.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked.

Callie shook her head. Lip reached out his hand and helped her to her feet. After Callie fixed her pants, she wrapped her arms around herself again. She looked to see that Lip had been joined by a skinny girl in a tank top and jean shorts, and a dark-haired boy in a white t-shirt and camo pants. Callie noticed more resemblances between the three of them and was fairly certain that these were also Lip's siblings. The girl handed Callie's shoes to her and Callie put them on.

"Do you wanna call your parents?" Lip asked.

Callie shook her head. "My dad works nights." she said quietly.

"You can stay at our place tonight."

Callie thought about that for a moment. She was very uncomfortable with the idea of going home to an empty house at that moment.

"Yeah, OK," she said.

Lip and his brother both put an arm around her and led her to their house while their sister picked up the baseball bat and followed behind them. Inside the house, Callie could see Ian and a little boy in pajamas standing in the living room.

"Oh, my God," Ian said and he rushed over to them. "Callie, are you OK?"

"What's going on, Fiona?" the little boy asked.

"It's OK, Liam," the girl said. "Let's go back to bed."

She ushered the little boy upstairs, hanging the baseball bat up on the wall by the first landing.

"Well, that's convenient," Callie commented.

"That's the Gallagher way," Ian replied. "What the fuck happened, anyway?"

"She was just attacked by a bunch of gang-bangers," Lip said.

"Carl, call the police."

"Yeah, I got it," the dark-haired boy replied, pulling out his cell phone.

Ian and Lip helped Callie sit down on the couch.

"Can we get you anything?" Lip asked.

"I'm kinda thirsty," she replied.

"I'll get you a glass of water. You need to rehydrate after a night of drinking."

"You would know," Ian teased.

Lip flipped him off as he walked into the kitchen. Fiona came back down the stairs.

"Liam's all tucked in," she said. "Did anyone call the police?"

"Yeah," Carl said. "They're sending a guy over."

Ian sat down next to Callie. "You sure you're alright?" he asked. "Any cuts or scrapes or bumps?"

He reached a hand out to touch her shoulder but Callie reflexively tensed and turned away from him.

"It's OK," Carl reassured her. "He's an EMT."

"If it makes you feel any better," Ian said to Callie. "I'm also gay."

Callie saw that he was smiling playfully, trying to put her at ease. She let out a small laugh. Now that she thought about it, the palms of her hands and her left ankle were hurting her. She held out her hands to Ian.

"Scraped, but not bleeding," he said.

"That's a good sign," Lip said, walking back into the living room. He handed Callie a glass of ice water.

"My ankle hurts a little, too," Callie said.

"Right or left?"

"Left."

Ian moved from the couch to kneel on the floor by Callie's feet. He gently prodded Callie's ankle. Callie winced only a little from the mild pain.

"Just twisted," Ian said. "You'll be alright."

"Thank you," Callie said and she looked around the room at each of them. "All of you."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Shameless Late-night Conversation

A few minutes later, a police officer was knocking on the door. He asked Callie a bunch of questions and took witness statements from Fiona, Lip and Carl. Once the cop had all of the information, he gave Callie his card to keep in contact and left the house. Fiona gave Callie a blanket and a set of pajamas. She showed her the downstairs bathroom and then rounded up her siblings, telling them to get to bed. They all wished Callie goodnight and headed upstairs.

Callie went into the bathroom to change. She washed the smudged makeup off her face and changed into the pajamas. She gathered up her clothes, then she padded back into the living room and lay down on the couch. With the blanket pulled up around her, she expected sleep to come easily but it didn't. She'd close her eyes for a short while only to open them again and lay awake for a short time more.

Suddenly, the floorboards started to creak as footsteps came down the kitchen stairs. She heard the noises of a cabinet being opened and the kitchen sink running. Callie rolled over and saw Lip standing at the kitchen counter, wearing a white t-shirt and gray pajama pants with a glass of water in hand. He saw Callie out of the corner of his eye and froze for a second before walking into the living room.

"Hey," he said in a loud whisper. "Did I wake you?" Callie shook her head. "Can't sleep?"

"I don't sleep well in unfamiliar places," Callie said.

"Oh. OK. Well, uh…how about I sit here with you for a while?"

"Yeah, OK. If you want."

Callie sat up and scooted over to make a spot for him.

"So," Lip said, plopping down next to Callie. "What's your story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, so far, the only things I know about you are that you work at the daycare and you like vodka and cranberry."

"What else do you want to know?"

"You're definitely not South side, that's for damn sure."

"What makes you say that?"

"No offense, but South side girls carry pepper spray and rape whistles."

Callie frowned. "Yeah, I guess I should have known better." She bit her bottom lip.

"Sorry but it is the ugly truth."

Callie shrugged. "If you say so."

"So, where are you from then?"

"New York. I just moved in with my dad. My parents split when I was a baby."

"Wow. How does your mom feel about you moving?"

"She, um…she died. When I was twelve. My grandma had raised me but she…just recently…"

Lip's eyes widened. "Oh, shit. I'm…I'm sorry."

Callie let out a long sigh. "Anyway, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"What's your story, Lip Gallagher?"

Lip chuckled. "How much time do you have?"

"That complicated, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"How about the abridged version?"

Lip ran his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily. "My manic, bipolar mom died last year and my dad is a drug addict, alcoholic, scam artist. They were never around much. Fiona practically raised all of us."

"Damn. That answer was loaded."

"I warned you."

"Indeed." Callie was quiet for a moment. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to get mad?"

Lip gave her an intrigued look. "Maybe," he said.

"The day I moved here, I had somebody tell me that I should stay away from you guys." She looked at Lip for a quiet moment, trying to find some sort of reaction. "You mad?"

"No," Lip said shaking his head. "I…sorta remember you. From before. From the bus."

"You do?"

"Yeah. So…you're Paul Madison's daughter?"

Callie was taken aback. "You know my dad?"

Lip began to babble. "Yes. No. Well, sort of. It's a long story. Actually, a series of long stories."

An awkward silence passed between them.

"Know what I think?" Callie asked.

"What's that?" Lip asked.

"I think that when somebody tells you something, you can't take it at face value. That you have to find out for yourself if it's worth listening to."

"OK. So, somebody told you that us Gallaghers are people you should avoid. What do you think, though?"

"I'm sleeping on your couch, aren't I? That's a start."

Lip nodded. "Well, you know what I think?"

"What?"

He leaned in closer. "You're lucky you weren't named Ashley."

Callie narrowed her eyes at him. "You've just been dying to tell that joke, haven't you?" Lip grinned and nodded. Callie playfully shoved him. "Goodnight, Lip."

"Goodnight, Callie."

Lip stood and Callie spread out on the couch. He pulled the blanket up around her and headed back upstairs. As Callie lay there, more questions filled her head but she did feel a sense of contentment and safety in the house. With it, she was finally able to fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Shameless Past

Callie awoke the next morning to loud whispers. She recognized the voices belonging to Lip and Fiona.

"Callie's dad is Paul Madison?" Fiona asked.

"Yeah," Lip replied. "She told me last night."

Fiona sighed. "He is gonna be pissed when he finds out that Callie was here last night."

"Fi, you know what would've happened if we weren't there," Lip said. "Honestly, what were we supposed to do? It doesn't change a damn thing."

Callie gasped when she heard the front door open. Carl walked in with coffee cups in one hand and a box of donuts in the other.

"God," Callie said, sitting up. "Scared the shit of me."

"Sorry," Carl replied, setting everything down on the coffee table.

As if on cue, Fiona and Lip came in from the kitchen, and Liam and Ian came downstairs. All were still dressed in their pajamas. It was then that Callie noticed the monitor on Ian's ankle.

"Good morning, Callie," Ian said. "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Ian. Really."

"Just checking. Here." He handed Callie one of the coffee cups.

"Coffee and donuts," Fiona said. "What's the occasion?"

"House guest," Carl replied, motioning to Callie.

"We don't have any sugar, though," Lip said, helping himself to a cup.

"Got it covered."

Carl produced a fistful of sugar packets from his pocket, placing them on the coffee table. Callie snatched up six of them.

"Want some coffee with your sugar?" Lip asked sarcastically.

Callie shrugged. "I like it sweet," she said ripping the packets open and pouring them into her cup.

Fiona opened up the box of donuts, pushing Liam's hand away, and offered it to Callie. "Guest gets the first pick," she said.

"No thanks," Callie said. "Listen, I really appreciate everything you guys have done, but I really should be getting home."

"I'll walk with you," Lip said. "I've got an errand to run anyway."

"You don't have to do that."

"It would give us some peace of mind to see you get home safe," Fiona said.

"Well, I guess I do owe you that much. I'll go get changed."

Callie gathered her clothes and went into the downstairs bathroom to change. She splashed some water on her face and ran her fingers through her hair. When she exited the bathroom, she found Lip waiting for her in the living room. He was fully dressed and holding both their coffee cups.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Callie replied.

Lip handed Callie her coffee cup and opened the door for her. They headed off down the street.

"It's only a couple of blocks from here," Callie said.

"You lead the way," Lip said.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, sipping on their coffees.

"I want to ask you something," Lip said finally.

"Shoot," Callie said.

"You heard Fiona and me talking this morning, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah. Kind of."

Lip shrugged. "It's OK, I guess. I just figured your dad would've talked to you more after giving you that warning."

"Look, it's really none of my business as to what interactions you've had with my dad."

"Yeah, but he may have had good reason for telling you to stay away from us."

Callie stopped and Lip turned to her. "You serious right now? This is coming from the guy that heard me screaming for help in the middle of the night and came running with a baseball bat in hand?"

"Callie, there's a lot you don't know about me. Or my family. Not all of it is as good as answering a cry for help."

"I can only imagine, just from this little bit of time I've spent with you guys. So, you could just tell it to me straight."

Lip sighed. "You might not like what you hear."

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Just…help me understand."

Lip looked up the street. "Well, we can keep walking and talking."

"OK."

They started walking again.

"So," Lip said. "What have your observations of the Gallagher family told you so far?"

"Well," Callie said. "My police officer dad warns me to stay away from you. You guys know who he is, and Fiona thinks that he is going to be pissed to find out where I was last night. Am I right to assume that you and/or other family members have been arrested at some point?"

"Yeah, I have. Fiona did some time in prison. Carl had gone to juvie. Ian, most recently and he's still on house arrest. Our parents, on numerous occasions."

Callie nodded. "One more thing."

"What's that?"

"Your errand is really an AA meeting, right?"

Lip looked at Callie. "Is it that obvious?"

"You only drank a pop at the bar, and Ian teased you about knowing how to recover from a night of drinking."

Lip nodded. "Yeah, I've let it get really out of control a couple of times."

"Enough said."

"So anyway, from what I've seen of you, I've got a feeling you really don't care what your dad has to say about staying at our place last night."

Callie shook her head. "We've never been that close. I just have to stick it out until I can save up the money for my own place." She looked across the street. "Until then, this is me."

They stopped across from a white house. Callie looked at the house and then looked back at Lip.

"Thanks again for everything," she said.

"Sure thing," Lip replied. "Get yourself some street smarts, OK?"

"OK." She stared at Lip for a moment before giving him a small smile. "You know what, Gallagher? You're alright."

Callie turned and crossed the street to the house. She unlocked the door and then looked back to see Lip was still standing across the street. She waved at him. He waved back and continued walking. Callie went into the house and after closing the door behind her, she let out a long, slow sigh.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's note: Like what your reading? Don't like what you're reading? Question, comment or concern? Anxiously awaiting new chapters? Want to see more stories? Leave a review, sign up for alerts and/or check out my profile. Thanks for reading!**_

Chapter Six: Shameless Fib

Callie knew that her father was home when she heard him snoring in the downstairs bedroom. She climbed the stairs and went to take a shower. Once she was clean, she put on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. She fished her cellphone out of her skinny jeans and saw that the battery was dead. After plugging it in to the charger, she turned it on to see that it had been blown up with text messages and unanswered phone calls from Emily and the girls as well as her dad.

Callie decided to call Emily back. She had requested a text message when Callie got home safe. She dialed the number and it rang only once before Emily picked up.

"Holy fuck!" she said. "You'd better have a damn good excuse for not texting me last night!"

"I do," Callie said. "I got jumped."

"What?! Oh, my God. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Actually, the uh…the Gallaghers chased them off me and took me in for the night."

Emily giggled. "Getting a little Lip service, are you?"

Callie scoffed. "Hardly! I slept on their couch. His sister seems pretty nice."

"Debbie?"

"No. Fiona. Jesus, how many Gallaghers are there?"

"Six. There was a half-sibling there at one point, but I don't think that counts."

"And Liam…is he…?"

"Full-blooded Gallagher boy. He has the same parents and everything."

"Well, damn."

"Tell me about it. So, how'd your dad handle you being gone all night?"

"He's asleep right now. I really don't want to tell him about last night."

"Then don't."

"Easy for you to say. When I was younger, I'd come for a visit and he'd barely let me leave the house. I tell him about last night, he'll probably hire me a bodyguard or something."

"You are an adult and you are perfectly capable of making your own decisions. Your dad's going to have to accept that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Alright, hon. You take it easy. I'll see you on Monday."

"OK. Bye."

As Callie ended the call, there was a knock at her bedroom door.

"You decent?" her dad asked.

"Yeah," Callie replied. "You can come in."

The door opened and Paul entered.

"Hey," he said. "How was it last night?"

"Good," Callie said effortlessly. "We all met up at this place called the Alibi Room. Emily invited us all over to her place to watch a movie afterwards. We were all pretty trashed, so we ended up staying the night."

"I wished you would have called me if you were going to be out all night."

"Sorry. My phone died and I didn't have a charger."

"Sure."

A long silence passed between them. It started to make Callie uncomfortable.

"What?" she asked finally.

Paul let out a long sigh. "OK, I gave you a chance to tell me the truth. Now let me tell you a little something." He pulled the desk chair over and sat down. "I've got a lot of friends on the force, Callie. One of my guys is bringing in a drunk and disorderly, and all of the sudden I'm hearing about how my daughter reported an assault."

"Dad, please."

"You don't have to talk about that if you don't want to. But I do want you to tell me where you were last night. I know it wasn't some staff sleepover."

"I think you know where I was."

Paul let out an exasperated sigh. "Jesus, Callie."

"I was somewhere safe with people who protected me."

"With the Gallaghers? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. Did your cop buddy tell you that the only reason I _didn't_ get gang raped was because the Gallaghers chased away my attackers? Seems like a pretty big detail to leave out."

Paul rubbed his forehead. "I told you to stay away from them for a reason. I'm not trying to be an asshole. I really do care about you."

"Oh, so _now_ you care about me."

"Callie…"

"I don't need you holding my hand. Never had, never will. Now please leave."

Paul was stunned by Callie's words. He slowly got up and walked out of the room. Callie shut the door and locked it behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Shameless Invitation

Callie spent the rest of her Saturday in her bedroom, keeping her father at a distance. In between watching movies on her computer, she found a friend in Emily. The two traded texts and eventually linked up their social media accounts.

On Sunday morning, Callie found an envelope had been shoved underneath her door. She picked it up and saw that it contained a note from her dad along with some cash.

 ** _Will be home late. Please get groceries._**

 ** _-Dad_**

Callie got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and the cabinets, making a list of things to buy from the store. Then she headed out to catch the bus.

A few aisles into her shopping trip, a box of cereal went whizzing past her head and landed in a cart nearby.

"Hey, watch it!" she shouted.

When she turned to look at the thrower, she saw it was Ian. He quickly walked towards her.

"Sorry," he said. "But I'm glad it got your attention."

Callie smiled at him. "I'll let it go this time. How's your weekend going?"

"As well as it can be, all things considered. How about you?"

"Well, it turns out I didn't have to tell my dad about my Friday night misadventures because his cop buddy did it for me."

"Shit. How'd he take it?"

"Not completely crazy, but he was not happy."

"Well, if children weren't meant to piss off their parents, what were they meant for?"

"Pretty sure that was for the free manual labor."

Ian chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so." A long silence passed between them. "Hey, I just thought of something."

Callie gave him an intrigued look. "Yeah, what's that?"

"You said your dad works nights. If you want, you're welcome to join us for dinner sometime."

"Ian, I really don't want to impose any further on you and your family."

"Let me give you my number in case you change your mind. Here, gimme your phone."

Ian extended his hand. When Callie didn't respond he flexed his fingers.

"You're not going to back down on this, are you?" she asked.

"Not a chance," he replied.

Callie sighed and pulled her cell phone from her purse. She handed it to Ian and he programmed his number into it.

"So," he said. "Dinner?"

"What, tonight?"

"Why not?" Ian handed her phone back. "We'd all be glad to have you over."

"Even Lip?" The words came out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. She was sure her face was blushing.

Ian just smiled at her. "Especially Lip. Stop by around six?"

"Yeah. OK. I'll see you tonight."

Then Ian headed for the checkout. As soon as he was out of earshot, Callie dialed Emily's number on her cell phone.

"Hey, Em," Callie said. "You're not gonna believe what just happened."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Shameless Moves

Later that evening, Callie was video chatting with Emily as she was getting ready for dinner at the Gallaghers.

"What do you think?" Callie asked, modeling her outfit.

"You're overthinking it," Emily said. "It's just dinner. You've already met the family, and everybody's cool with you."

"Yeah, but like I told you earlier. I feel like I slipped up."

"I know what you said earlier, and it's not a slip up. You're crushing hard on Lip, but it's not such a bad thing. He's actually pretty nice."

"Obviously."

"OK, stop stressing about it. Ian was nice enough to invite you to dinner, so get your ass over there and enjoy the company."

"Yeah, OK. Thanks, Emily. I'll talk you later."

"You'd better!"

Callie signed off her computer and headed downstairs. She grabbed a bag off the kitchen counter and headed out to the Gallagher house. She kept one hand in her pocket, her fingers curled around an emergency keychain alarm she picked up at the store.

A minute later, her cell phone started to ring. She dug it out of her back pocket and saw Lip's name on the caller ID. Utterly confused, she answered the call.

"Hi," she said. "How did you manage to get my number?"

"Ian gave it to me," Lip replied.

"How did he get it?"

"I don't know. Maybe he hacked you."

Callie thought back to grocery store when she had given her cell phone to Ian. "Oh, he is a sneaky fuck."

"You're still coming over, right?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way now."

"Well, there's going to be a slight change of plans."

"Meaning?"

"It has become dinner for two."

Callie stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, Fiona has to chaperone this fundraiser thing at Liam's school, that he didn't tell her about until like two hours ago. Ian got called into work and Carl…well, I'm not really sure where Carl went, only that he's not coming home until later tonight."

"That would leave just you and me, then?"

"Yeah. Unless, you…"

"No, no, no. Don't be silly. I'm already more than halfway to your house."

"Well, dinner's almost ready. Just come to the back door when you get here."

"OK. I'll see you in a few."

Callie ended the call. She slipped the phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath before continuing to the Gallagher's house. When she arrived, she went through the side yard to the back of the house. She climbed up the steps and knocked on the door.

"It's open!" Lip called out to her.

Callie opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Delicious smells wafted through the air.

"Ooh, it smells good in here," she said, setting the bag down on the table.

"I think you will be mildly impressed," Lip said. He pulled a glass dish out of the oven and nudged it shut with his foot. He set the dish down on the counter. "What's in the bag?"

Callie broke into a silly grin. "It's, uh…a gag gift."

Lip gave her a curious look. "What kind of 'gag gift?'"

"Well, normally when someone invites me for dinner, I bring alcohol. But, you don't drink, so I got a little creative."

Callie reached into the bag and produced a six-pack of bottled root beer. Lip chuckled. Then he looked closer at the box.

"That's a good brand, actually," he said.

"The best," Callie agreed. "What kind of feast are we pairing it with?"

"Lasagna and garlic bread."

"Sounds good to me."

Lip served up the food and handed a plate to Callie. They sat down at the table and twisted the caps off of their root beers. Callie cut into her lasagna and took a bite. The cheese was gooey, the noodles were just the right softness and the tomato sauce was flavorful.

"Oh, ma gawd," Callie said with her mouth full.

"It's good?" Callie nodded. "Well, to be honest, Ian made it. The sauce came out of a jar and the garlic bread was frozen."

Callie swallowed her food. "Still, I am mildly impressed."

Lip picked up his root beer bottle and held it up to Callie. She took hers in hand and clinked it against his.

After dinner, Callie collected the dishes to wash in the sink while Lip put away the left-over food.

"Saving it for the others?" Callie asked.

"Yeah," Lip said. "They'd better eat it, too. I swear, if I see any of them come home with food, they're gonna get their asses beat."

Callie let out a small laugh. "Dinner was really good. Thank you."

"Thank you for helping with clean up."

"It's the least I can do." She set the last dish in the drain board to dry. Then she turned to Lip. "Can I ask you something?"

He held up his hands defensively. "I did not plan it being just us for dinner, I swear."

"No, I believe you. But…you did agree to have dinner with just me. Why?"

Lip shrugged. "Just trying to be nice. There something wrong with that?"

"No. Not at all. I mean, I do like hanging out with you."

"Well, maybe, I like hanging out with you, too."

Callie gave him a small smile and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She looked up to see Lip's striking blue eyes staring back into hers. He took a step closer and Callie inhaled deeply.

"Lip," she whispered, a slight warning in her tone.

"Too fast?" he asked.

"Maybe just a little."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"I am not a prude, Lip. But I have had some really shitty relationships."

"Yeah. Me, too."

They both laughed. Just then, the front door opened and Fiona and Liam walked in.

"Hi, Callie," Liam said.

"Hello again, Liam," Callie replied.

"Any leftovers?" Fiona asked. "All they had at that fundraiser was this all-natural, vegan, gluten-free thing that tastes like cardboard."

"Yeah, I just put it away," Lip said. "Stick it in the microwave for a minute or two."

"Hey, I should get going," Callie said. "It was nice to see you again."

"You, too, Callie," Fiona said. "Don't be a stranger now."

"I'll walk you out," Lip said to Callie.

He and Callie walked out the back door and down the steps. They walked through the yard to the front of the house and out to the sidewalk.

"Thank you again for dinner," Callie said.

"So," Lip said. "Are we gonna hang out again?"

"I'd like to. Just don't tell my dad."

Lip smirked. "That won't be a problem. You OK walking home?"

"Yeah." Callie reached into her pocket and pulled out her keychain alarm. "Apparently, you can find some street smarts at the checkout counter at the grocery store."

"Good start. Goodnight, Callie."

"Goodnight, Lip." She planted a kiss on his cheek, then turned and headed for home.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Shamelessly Checking In

Callie spent the next few days keeping herself busy and doing her best to avoid her dad. She and Lip sent funny, flirtatious texts to each other, keeping their conversations simple. It took Callie those few days to finally find time to sit and talk with Emily. They caught up on everything that had been going on as they sat out on the front steps after the daycare closed for the night.

"So," Emily said. "You gonna keep seeing him?"

"Well, yeah," Callie replied.

"When?"

"I'm waiting for him to pick me up. We're going out for dinner."

"I still can't believe you didn't give him a little more than just a kiss on the cheek."

"Oh, I wanted to. Believe me."

"Why didn't you?"

Callie shrugged. "I guess I'm just hoping it'll be different this time around."

"Honey, if I were about ten years younger…"

"Emily!" Callie exclaimed, trying to stifle a laugh.

A moment later, they heard the sound of a motorcycle engine coming from down the road. The girls turned toward the street as the sound got louder. Then they saw Lip pull into the parking lot. As he shut off the engine, Emily leaned in to Callie.

"Hot damn," she said quietly. "I knew he worked at a bike shop, didn't know he owned one."

"Well," Callie replied. "That's my ride."

"You'd better hope so." Then Emily winked at her.

Callie stood and walked over to Lip. He was dressed in a button-down work shirt that had his name embroidered on the chest, black Dickie pants and a pair of steel-toe boots.

"Hey," Lip said.

"Hey, yourself," Callie said. She looked over at the bike. "Pretty sweet ride you got there."

"Fully restored. Did most of the work myself."

"Oh. So, is this you trying to impress me?"

"Is it working?"

"Maybe. You got a helmet for me?"

Lip slid a helmet off of the handlebars and handed it to Callie. She put it on and snapped the buckle.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Like a badass biker chick" Lip replied.

Callie smiled. She settled herself onto the bike seat behind Lip, her arms wrapping around his waist. He started the engine up and then they took off down the road.

The wind rushed by as Callie kept a secure hold on Lip. A short time later, they stopped out front of a diner. When they walked in, Ian waved to them as he was clearing dishes from one of the tables, and then Fiona walked over to greet them.

"Hey, guys," she said with a bright smile.

"Hey, Fiona," Callie said. "You work here?"

"Manager, actually. The boys help me out from time-to-time."

"Temporarily," Ian chimed in as he walked past them.

Fiona playfully punched his arm. "So, you guys eating or just hanging?" she asked.

"We're gonna eat," Lip said.

"Great. I'll set you up with a table."

As Fiona grabbed menus, Lip leaned in and whispered something to her. Fiona gave him a sarcastic look and whispered back. Then she looked at Callie and smiled.

"Follow me," she said.

They followed Fiona over to a corner booth. They ordered drinks and Fiona left them to look over the menus.

"What do you recommend?" Callie asked as she looked over the menu.

"Burgers are pretty good," Lip replied. "Save some room, though. Their desserts are great."

"I'll bet."

Just then, Callie's cell phone started to ring. She dug it out of her pocket and looked at the call ID.

"It's my dad," she said.

"Answer it," Lip said.

Callie gave an exasperated sigh. She held her finger to her lips and then answered her phone. "Hey, dad."

"Where are you?" Paul asked. "Thought you'd be home by now."

"Just grabbing some dinner at the diner."

"Yeah. With who?"

"CARL FUCKING GALLAGHER!"

All of the patrons turned to see a blond- haired girl storm into the diner. Lip got up and hurried over to her as Fiona and Ian came out from the kitchen.

"Callie?!"

"Bye, dad. Call you later." Callie ended the call and turned her phone off.

"Kassidi," Lip said to the blond. "You need to leave. Now."

"Not 'til I see Carl," Kassidi said.

"He's not here," Ian said. "And he doesn't want to see you."

"I'm his wife!"

"Like hell you are," Fiona said. "You got married using fake ID's. And you _know_ Carl filed a restraining order. Now get the fuck out of my diner before I call the cops."

"Fucking bitch!"

Fiona just smiled. "I've been called worse, sweetie."

Kassidi flipped them off as she stormed out of the diner. Then Lip walked back to the table and sat down.

"Wow," Callie said. "Does that happen a lot?"

"Gallagher ex's have a habit of popping up randomly," Lip said.

Callie thought about that for a moment. "I'm not going to run into any of _your_ ex's, am I?"

"Jesus, I hope not."

After the chaos of Kassidi's outburst was dealt with, Callie and Lip were able to settle in and enjoy each other's company. They both ate burgers and French fries as they talked. Callie was impressed with the quality of this so-called "diner food."

Their conversation was kept light, just trying to get to know each other better. Callie did notice, as they were waiting for dessert, she had moved closer to Lip. Their legs were touching, and Callie's hand had come to rest on Lip's knee.

Callie pulled her hand away when Fiona brought their desserts to the table.

"Here we go," Fiona said, as she placed the plates on the table. "Caramel cheesecake for Callie and apple pie for Lip. Anything else?"

"Just the check," Lip replied.

"Thanks, Fiona," Callie said.

"Enjoy," Fiona said with a smile and she left the table.

Callie turned back to Lip. "She's very cheerful."

"She likes you," Lip said. "They all like you. So much that they conspired against us the other night."

"How's that?"

"Everyone acted like they all had something to do when they were told you coming for dinner."

"Hmm. Maybe it might have been that they were conspiring in our favor."

"Yeah?"

Callie smiled and nodded. She looked down at Lip's plate. "Could I try a bite of that?"

"Sure."

Lip slid his plate towards Callie. She dug into it with her fork and popped the bite into her mouth. A moment later, Fiona came back and placed the check on the table. Callie quickly snatched it up.

"We're going Dutch," she said firmly.

Lip held his hands up in surrender. "Fine by me."

"Assertive woman," Fiona grinned. "I knew I liked her."

Callie smiled. "Now, if you don't mind. Your brother and I _are_ on a date."

"Right," Fiona said. "I'll let you be." Then she headed for the kitchen.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Shameless Truths

After Callie and Lip finished their desserts, they settled the check and headed back out to the bike. As Callie put her helmet on, she noticed a dark-haired girl in a Patsy's Pies uniform staring at them from a doorway down the street.

"I think we're being watched," Callie said to Lip.

He glanced over his shoulder. Then he looked back at Callie and frowned.

"Well, that was too much to hope for."

"Oh. Should I be worried?"

"No. It just…it didn't end well. That's all."

Callie then settled herself onto the bike and cautiously wrapped her arms around Lip. "Where are we going now?" she asked.

"My place," Lip replied.

Then he started the bike and they rode away. As the ride went on, Callie found herself more at ease. Her arms tightened around Lip, drawing herself closer to him. She rested her chin on his shoulder.

Once they reached the Gallagher house, Lip took Callie's hand and led her inside. They found that the living room had been taken over as Carl was helping Liam construct a school project. The coffee table was littered with various art supplies. They both looked up from their work as Lip and Callie entered.

"Hey, guys," Callie said. "What are you working on?"

"Recycled-art project," Liam replied.

"It's really coming along, bud," Lip said and he patted Liam's shoulder. "You guys need anything, we'll be upstairs."

"Fine, just be quiet," Carl said. "Franny's sleeping."

As Carl and Liam went back to their work, Callie followed Lip up the stairs. He led her into a small bedroom, pulling an accordion door shut behind him.

"This is your room?" Callie asked as she looked around.

"Yeah," Lip replied. "It's not much, but it serves its purpose."

Callie sat down on the edge of the bed while Lip stood, leaning back against the dresser.

"Who's Franny?" Callie asked.

"My niece. You haven't met my sister Debbie yet." Lip tapped his fingers against the dresser. "Anyway, I…um, I was hoping you and I could talk. Just…away from everybody."

"OK. What do you want to talk about?"

Lip crossed the room and sat down on the bed, across from Callie. "Maybe I'm rushing it a little, but what, exactly, are we doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you did tell Fiona that we were on a date."

"Oh. Was that wrong?"

"No. I mean, I hadn't thought of it in that way. But, I do like that you said it."

"So, we should put a label on this."

"More like a definition. Let's just put everything out here."

"OK. Then, we need to be brutally honest with each other. Just answer yes or no. Are you attracted to me?"

"Yes. Are you attracted to me?"

"Yes. Does this attraction have anything to do with the whole rescue thing?"

"No," they said in unison and then they both let out a small laugh.

"Are you going out with me for the soul purpose of pissing off your dad?" Lip asked.

"No," Callie replied firmly. "Are you?"

Lip looked her square in the eyes. "No. But it is a bonus."

Callie giggled. "OK, seriously. The big question. Do you want to consider us 'dating' and continue on from here?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

Then they looked at each for a silent moment.

"Are you going to kiss me now?" Callie asked in a hushed voice.

Lip placed his hand on her cheek and drew her closer. "Yes," he said.

Then he pressed his lips softly against hers. Callie draped her arms across Lip's shoulders with one hand placed on the nape of his neck. Her lips parted and a chill went through her as Lip's tongue moved artistically across hers.

As the kiss went on, Callie could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. They stopped in front of the bedroom door.

"Hey, Lip?" Carl called.

Lip broke away from the kiss. "What?" he asked.

"Officer Madison is downstairs."

"Dammit," Callie whispered.

Lip sighed heavily. "Yeah, be right there," he said.

"OK," Carl said and they heard his footsteps fade away down the stairs.

"I'm sorry," Callie said.

"You don't need to be," Lip said. "He's the one with the problem."

"I should go."

"You know, we could fuck with him and come downstairs in our underwear."

Callie laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Maybe some other time."

"OK."

They both stood and headed downstairs. They found Paul standing in the living room, outfitted in his police uniform, complete with a holstered gun. His arms were folded across his chest and he had a stern look on his face.

"Good evening, Officer Madison," Lip said with fake sincerity.

"Hello, Phillip," Paul replied coolly. "I see you've met my daughter."

"Well, I can see now she got her good looks from her mom."

Paul's eyes narrow at Lip. "So, how's AA going for you? Still on the wagon?"

Lip reached into his pocket and produced a sobriety chip. He twirled it around his fingers like a high roller in a casino. "I'd say it's going pretty damn good."

"OK," Callie interjected. "Well, now that we've all caught up, dad and I will be going."

"Sure," Lip said. "Have a good night."

Callie headed outside with her dad following close behind her. Then she started up the street.

"Cruiser's right here," Paul called to her.

"Don't care," Callie called back. "I'm walking."

A minute later, the police cruiser pulled up next to Callie and rolled slowly down the street beside her as she walked down the sidewalk. The passenger window rolled down.

"We need to talk," Paul said.

"Not unless you apologize," Callie replied.

"Excuse me?"

Callie stopped and turned to face her father. "Do you realize how embarrassed I was as a grown woman to have my _father_ come and remove me from my friends' house?"

"They're not your friends, Callie."

"What do you even know about them, besides what's written on their wrap sheets?"

"The fact that they all _have_ wrap sheets is all I need to know."

Callie scoffed. "You are biased."

Paul stared at her in disbelief. "What did you just say to me?"

"You have an unfair, preconceived notion as to what kind of people the Gallaghers really are."

"Now wait just a minute, young lady…"

"God, stop treating me like a fucking child!"

"Maybe if you weren't lying and sneaking around like a child, I wouldn't have to treat you like one."

"You _missed_ my childhood. You don't get a do-over."

Callie turned and stormed off down the street towards home.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Shameless Compromise

Callie lay in her bed that night, unable to sleep. Her dad had already gone to work, leaving her alone in the house. She had considered returning to the Gallaghers but thought that there had been enough confrontation today. Even though she so wanted to see Lip again.

Callie sighed heavily. She had been trying to keep her relationship with Lip from going too far too fast. Their kiss, however, played dangerously with the temptation for something more.

Suddenly, Callie's cell phone started to ring. When she looked at the ID and saw that it was her dad, she immediately sent it to voicemail. Though she had felt a slight bit of guilt for the things she had said earlier, she didn't want to deal with him checking up on her, nor was she willing to continue their conversation about their conflicting viewpoints on the Gallaghers.

Finally, deciding that she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep on her own, Callie got up and headed downstairs to the kitchen. She rummaged through the cabinets and the fridge, hoping that something appetizing would materialize. She settled for a bowl of cereal

After finishing her late-night snack, Callie was about to head back upstairs when the doorbell rang. She froze and slowly walked to the front door. How she wished she had had some sort of defense handy.

"Who's there?" Callie called out.

"Callie, it's Fiona," was the reply.

Callie breathed a sigh of relief. She unlocked the door and opened it to find Fiona standing on the porch. Her running car was parked at the curb.

"What's going on?" Callie asked

"Didn't your dad call you?" Fiona asked.

Callie rolled her eyes. "I'm ignoring my dad right now."

Fiona shook her head. "Bad call. They brought in a suspect in your case. They want us all to go down to the station to ID him."

"Oh, shit. Yeah, just…let me, uh… go get changed."

"OK. We'll be in the car."

Callie shut the door as Fiona headed back to the car. She hurried up to her room and quickly changed out of her pajamas. When she came back down, she locked the front door and rushed to the car, sliding into the backseat next to Lip. Fiona pulled away from the curb, headed to the police station. Callie stared out the window, chewing on her fingernails nervously.

"You OK?" Lip asked.

Callie turned to look at him. "I'm not sure."

He slipped an arm around her and pulled her close, placing a kiss on her forehead. Carl turned in his seat to address the whole car.

"So, how is this going to work?" he asked.

"Well," Fiona said. "I'm thinking they'll probably have us each go in and pick the guy out from a line-up."

"And you all are OK with doing that?" Callie asked.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Lip asked.

"You guys don't owe me anything."

Lip shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. We may do a lot of fucked up shit, but we take care of our own."

"So, I'm one of you now?"

The others all chuckled. "Damn straight."

When they finally arrived at the police station, Callie felt her heart start to pick up speed. As they walked inside, Lip kept a protective arm around her with Fiona and Carl flanked on their left and right respectively. A detective met them at the front desk and escorted them down a hallway, stopping in front of a door.

"I'm going to take you in one at a time," he explained. "We'll present you with a lineup. You'll be behind a two-way mirror so they can't see you, but you can see them. Any of them look familiar, you let us know."

"Who goes first?" Fiona asked.

"That would be Miss Madison."

Callie took a deep breath and nodded. Lip leaned in close.

"You can do this," he whispered.

Callie followed the detective into the room. A moment later, a line of guys was brought into the room opposite of the two-way mirror. She drew a breath in when she saw him.

"The guy in the middle," she said. "Number three."

"You're sure?" the detective said.

"Yes," Callie replied. "He was one of the guys that held me down."

"OK. Thank you, Miss Madison."

The detective took her back out into the hallway. There, she found her dad talking with the others. They all went quiet when they saw Callie.

"Everything OK here, Madison?" the detective asked.

"Yeah," Paul said. "Thanks, Jones."

The detective motioned for Fiona to follow him into the room. When the door shut behind them, Paul approached Callie.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

Callie nodded. "I just want it to be over."

"It will. This is just the beginning."

Callie sighed. "I should have answered your call. I just really didn't want an argument or a lecture…"

"I know. Look, I just want to be here for you now." Paul sighed heavily. "I think you should stay at the Gallaghers' tonight."

Callie looked at him, utterly confused. "Um…what?"

Then the detective came back with Fiona, and Carl went into the room next.

"We were just discussing it," Paul continued. "I've still got a couple of hours left in my shift. I don't like the idea of you being alone right now. You should stay over at their place."

"And you're OK with that?" Callie asked.

"With one condition. I know space is tight over there, so with the sleeping arrangements…"

"Dad…"

"Callie, c'mon. You're twenty-three years old. You think I don't know that _something_ happened upstairs in Lip's bedroom today?"

"Oh, for crying out loud."

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"I'm standing right here," Lip piped up.

Paul pointed his finger at him. "Let's get one thing straight; I still don't like you."

"But your daughter does."

"Stop that," Callie said to Lip. Then she turned to her dad. "Look, if it's really that important to you, I'll agree to sleeping on their couch. Like I did the last time I stayed over."

"Thank you," Paul said and he turned to Lip. "You keep your hands to yourself tonight."

Lip gave him a quick nod. The detective brought Carl back out and took Lip into the room.

"Officer Madison," Fiona said. "You don't need to worry about Callie. We'll take good care of her."

"She's my only child, Fiona," Paul replied. "And I know firsthand the kind of trouble she could get into in this place."

"Not with the right people looking out for her," Carl chimed in.

"That's still up for debate," Paul said. Then he squeezed Callie's shoulder. "I'll see you at home."

Callie nodded, and Paul walked off down the hall.

"Your dad's kind of an asshole," Carl said.

"I know," Callie replied. "I'm not too fond of him either."

A moment later, Lip and the detective returned.

"OK," the detective said. "You've all been consistent in picking the suspect out of the line-up."

"Well, that's good to hear," Fiona said.

"So, what happens now?" Callie asked.

"This guy already has a long list of prior arrests," the detective said. "So, we're gonna sit down with him and have a little chat about what happened the night you were attacked. With any luck, we'll be able to make a deal and get the names of the other two that were involved."

"You really think he'll give up the other guys?"

"If we give him enough motivation. We've got all we need from you guys, for now. Just keep your phones handy in case we need to call you in again."

Callie thanked him and the four of them headed back out to the parking lot.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's note: Going off the grid for a couple of days. Hoping to have a few more chapters when I get back. Enjoy! :)**_

Chapter Twelve: Shamelessly Bending the Rules

"Hey, Fiona," Callie said on the ride home. "Can you drop me and Lip off at my house? I wanna grab a couple of things."

"Sure, no problem," Fiona said. "You guys OK with walking back?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Lip replied.

A few minutes later, Fiona pulled the car up in front of Callie's house.

"I'll make up the couch for you," Carl said as Callie and Lip exited the car.

"Don't be too long," Fiona said.

Lip shut the car door and Fiona continued onto the Gallagher house.

"What all do you need to get?" Lip asked as he followed Callie up the front steps.

"Usual overnight stuff," Callie replied. "Pajamas, change of clothes, toiletries, anything I might need for work tomorrow."

"Sleepover on a school night, huh?"

Callie laughed. "Yeah. How cool are we right now?"

She unlocked the front door and led Lip upstairs to her bedroom. He looked around the room as she started to collect her things. Callie noticed him walk over to her bookshelf.

"You really like the classics, don't you?" Lip asked as he ran his finger along the books' spines.

"I thought I was going to teach Literature at one point," Callie explained.

"What happened?"

Callie shrugged. "I like my little guys more. Still a big bibliophile though."

"I can tell." Then he sat down on the edge of Callie's bed.

"Did you think you'd ever see my bedroom?"

"You mean before or after your dad told me to keep my hands to myself?"

An idea suddenly popped into Callie's head. She stopped what she was doing and turned to Lip. "You know, he only said you had to keep your hands off me." Then she slowly crossed the room to where he was sitting. "But, he didn't say anything about me keeping my hands off of you."

"Oh," Lip said slowly when he realized what Callie was hinting at. "Well, _technically_ , all of that would be correct."

Callie leaned in closer. "I have been trying so hard to resist you. But, if we can work with technicalities, I might just give in and properly show you my appreciation."

Lip nodded emphatically. "Yeah, I can deal with technicalities."

"Good."

Then Callie kissed him. Her hand rested on his knee and slowly worked its way up his leg. He moaned softly against her lips as her fingers traced the length of his hard cock through the fabric of his pants. Then she pulled away from the kiss.

"Hands where I can see them," she said.

Lip leaned back, resting on his forearms with his palms flat on the bed. "Yes, ma'am."

Callie lowered herself to her knees. She unzipped his pants and he lifted his hips off the bed as she slid them down along with his boxers. Lip exhaled slowly, watching her wrap her fingers around his hard cock. She smiled seductively at him before lowering her lips to the tip and taking him into her mouth. Her hand and her mouth worked rhythmically up and down his shaft, occasionally changing it up with long licks from base to tip and sucking his balls. Every little grunt and groan he made gave Callie even more satisfaction.

"Getting close," Lip whispered breathlessly.

Callie took her mouth off of him just long enough to firmly reply, "I can handle it."

"Fuck," he said slowly as Callie continued.

Lip's eyes shut tight and his head tilted back. He sucked in a breath through his teeth and groaned loudly as a gush of warm liquid filled Callie's mouth. Lip let himself fall back onto the bed as she licked the last bit of cum from his cock.

"Damn, you're good," Lip said, sighing contentedly.

Callie stood. "I'm gonna grab the rest of the rest of my stuff."

"Alright." Lip got up from the bed and started to fix his pants. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

"Going to get your nicotine fix?"

Lip smiled at her. "Kinda hard to resist after that." Then he kissed her cheek. "I owe you one."

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

"When I do get my hands on you, you're gonna get it good."

Callie smiled wickedly at him. "Go smoke your cancer stick. I'll be down in a minute."

Lip headed downstairs. Callie went into her bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth before shoving her toothbrush into her bag with the rest of her things. As she locked the front door, Lip ground his cigarette butt into the sidewalk with the toe of his shoe. Then they headed for the Gallaghers'.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Shamelessly Hands-On

Callie awoke to the sound of the front door opening and then closing. She tried to lay still and be as quiet as she could. That plan went south went there was a loud clatter followed by a loud, "Jesus Christ!" She quickly sat up to see a scruffy-looking man rubbing his shin. He had shaggy, dirty blond hair that shined with grease. His chin was covered in stubble that was touched with subtle grey. He was clothed in a well-worn denim jacket, a dirty t-shirt and tattered jeans. He looked up from his injured shin and saw Callie looking back at him with a curious expression on her face.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Callie asked.

The man scowled at her. "I don't need to answer that. _You_ are the stranger in _my_ house."

Callie laughed. "'Stranger?' I am a _guest_."

"Oh, for fuck's sake! My dumbass kids will anybody sleep here. And for a what? A couple of good turns in the sheets?" He scoffed.

"Oh," Callie said, realization finally settling in. "You must be Frank Gallagher."

"My reputation precedes me," he replied, taking a small bow.

"It sure does."

"So, which one of my kids are you fucking?"

"Ian," Callie replied.

Frank stared at her blankly for a moment. Then his face softened into a smile and he let out a loud, long laugh. He wagged a finger at her. "That's good. That is a good one. Holy shit, you are quite the comic."

Just then, Lip came charging down the stairs. He was dressed in nothing but his boxers, hung low on his hips. Callie looked him over, admiring the outlines of his muscles. A triangle was tattooed on his left pectoral. His hair was even more tousled from sleep.

"Will you shut the fuck up?!" Lip hissed at Frank. "People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh," Frank said slowly, looking back and forth from Lip to Callie. "I should have known you were Lip's girl."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Callie asked defensively.

"Only that you match his quick wit."

Lip rolled his eyes. "Why don't you grab your stuff and come upstairs?" he asked Callie.

She got up from the couch and grabbed her bag. Frank gave her a nod and took up residence on the couch. Callie followed Lip upstairs to his bedroom. After closing the door behind her, Callie felt his lips graze her ear and his hands on her hips.

"It's after midnight," he whispered to her.

"Yes, it is," Callie whispered back.

She turned to face Lip. She dropped her bag onto the floor and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him hard. Lip kissed her back with just as much intensity. His fingertips brushed against her skin as he swept his hair aside. His lips moved to her neck, eliciting a long, heavy sigh.

"I want to reciprocate what you did to me earlier," Lip whispered. "Do you think you can be quiet?"

"I think I can manage."

Lip kissed Callie again, moving her towards the bed. She followed his lead, crawling up onto the bed. As she lay back, Lip's body covered hers. His hand crept underneath her shirt, tracing along the waistband of her pajama bottoms. Then his hand slipped underneath her panties and she gasped when his fingers glided over her most sensitive parts. His lips against hers muffled the soft moans that threatened to escape. Then Lip broke away from the kiss. He pulled her pajama bottoms and her panties off, dropping them on the floor. Callie inhaled deeply as Lip placed a kiss on her thigh.

"You were warned," he said.

Then his lips were on those sensitive parts where his fingers had been moments before. Callie bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her moans quiet. Her breaths quickened as he worked her over with his tongue. As he brought her closer to climax, her hips moved against his mouth. Then her body tensed as she reached that magic moment. When her body relaxed, Lip crawled across the bed and lay beside her. She snuggled up against him, running her finger across her chest.

"You amaze me," Callie said.

Lip wrapped his arm around her. "We've both gotten a little preview of each other. Let's leave it here for now."

"OK. But I am curious to know how it could get any better than that."

"Patience. We both have work in the morning. Sleep is more important right now."

Callie curled up against him and let sleep take her over.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Shameless Routine

When Callie awoke the next morning, Lip was not beside her. She grabbed her panties and pajama bottoms from the floor and put them on. She padded down the stairs to find Lip starting a pot of coffee. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Good morning," he said. "Sleep well?"

"You know I did," Callie said, smiling back at him.

Lip leaned in and kissed her. "Do you need a shower before work? There's gonna be a fight for the bathrooms."

Callie shook her head. "Had one last night. Just need to freshen up a bit."

When the coffee finished brewing, Lip fixed cups for Callie and himself. Then a door slammed shut upstairs. Pounding footsteps followed as Carl came running down the kitchen stairs and into the downstairs bathroom, slamming the door shut in Ian's face.

"Gotta be quicker than that!" Carl called out.

Ian slammed his hand against the door. "Asshole!" He gave an exasperated sigh, then turned to see Callie looking at him.

"Typical morning in the Gallagher house?" she asked.

Ian and Lip both chuckled.

"So many people, so few bathrooms," Ian said.

Callie laughed. "Survival of the fittest."

Ian smiled and shrugged. "Would've beaten him if it wasn't for the extra weight on my ankle."

"Sure you would have," Lip teased.

Ian flipped him off. A moment later, Carl emerged from the bathroom and Ian slipped in. Then the back door opened. Callie was surprised to see the bartender from the Alibi waltzing in.

"Morning, Gallaghers!" Vee called out.

"Hey, Vee!" they all echoed.

Vee stopped short when she saw Callie. She looked her over, then smiled. "And who do we have here?"

"Callie," Lip said. "This is Veronica. Fiona's best friend and co-owner of the Alibi. Also, our neighbor."

"Nice to meet you," Callie said.

"Likewise," Vee said. "Anyway, I'm borrowing some milk. Amy and Gemma are driving me crazy, demanding this sugary cereal for breakfast."

"Help yourself," Carl said as he started preparing breakfast. "Just bought a gallon yesterday."

Vee opened the cabinet and took out a tall glass. As she grabbed the milk from the fridge, the back door opened again. A tall, muscular man entered.

"There about to have a meltdown over there," he said.

"I'm working on it, Kev," Vee replied.

Kev looked over at Callie. "Sorry, didn't realize you had company"

"It's fine," Lip said. "Callie Madison, this is Vee's husband Kevin."

" _You_ are Callie Madison?"

"Yes," Callie replied.

"I'm really sorry about what happened the other night. Please don't sue us."

"Kevin!" Vee exclaimed.

"Sue you for what?" Carl asked.

"He thinks that Callie's gonna find some way to blame us for what happened and take us to the cleaners," Vee explained.

Callie laughed. "No, Kevin. I'm not going to sue you."

"You promise?" Kev asked.

"My dad is a cop. I know a thing or two about the law. Even if I did try to sue you, it would never hold up in court."

Kev breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God!"

"C'mon," Vee said. "Let's get back to our sugar fiends. Nice to meet you, Callie. See you around."

Then Kev and Vee left out the back door.

"Upstairs bathroom is free!" Liam announced as he came down the stairs, fully dressed in his school uniform.

"You go ahead," Lip said to Callie.

Callie kissed his cheek and went upstairs. She grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom to change. After styling her hair and putting on some makeup, she came back downstairs to find family breakfast in full swing. Lip helped hand out dishes that Carl was plating up. The others, including Frank, were all seated around the kitchen table. Callie could see that they were now joined by Debbie, who was feeding Franny in a highchair. Frank looked up from his plate and smiled at Callie.

"Good morning," he said. "Please, join us."

Lip handed her a plate. She took it and joined the others at the table.

"Didn't catch your name last night," Frank said.

"Callie," she replied.

"You're the damsel in distress, huh?" Debbie asked.

Callie gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I guess."

Just then, Fiona came through the front door. "Morning, fam!" she called out.

"Just in time," Lip said, handing her a plate.

Fiona thanked him and sat down at the table. Then Lip and Carl also joined them They all ate in silence for a few minutes.

"If I may…" Frank began to say.

"You may not," Fiona interrupted.

"How do you know what I'm going to ask?"

"I don't know what you're going to ask, so maybe it's better that you don't ask."

"I just wanted to know what the deal is with Callie and Lip."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at Frank. Then their attention turned to Lip and Callie. Callie was sure her face was blushing.

"We're dating," Lip said. "OK?"

"OK," Fiona said. "Liam, ready for school?" Liam nodded. "Great, let's go." Then they got up from the table, clearing their own dishes to the sink.

"See you at work," Ian said.

"Nine thirty," Fiona replied. "Don't be late!"

"Carl," Debbie said, also getting up from the table. "You've got Franny today."

"No problem," Carl replied. He tickled his niece and placed another handful of Cheerios on her tray.

"Need a ride to work?" Lip asked Callie.

"Taking the bike?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. Let's go."

As everyone was getting ready to leave the house, Frank leaned over to Franny.

"All I did was ask a question," he said.

Franny in return offered Frank a Cheerio. He took it and put it in his mouth, smiling at her as he chewed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Shamelessly Bluffing

"You know what I've been thinking?" Paul asked one evening.

Callie looked up from her book. "What's that?" she asked.

"You should look into getting a car."

"Right. With what money?"

"Well, maybe I can help you out a little bit."

"Dad…"

"If you want to keep lugging daycare games and projects back and forth on the bus, be my guest."

Callie sighed heavily. "I'll think about it."

Just then, there was a knock on the front door. Callie froze, a slight panic coming over her.

"You expecting company?" Paul asked.

"No," Callie replied, the lie coming easily.

"I gotta finish getting ready for work. Can you go see who that is?"

"OK."

Callie got up from her seat, resisting the urge to run instead of walk. When she opened the door, Lip was standing on her front porch. She knew it would be him but also had a small hope that it wouldn't be.

"You're early," Callie whispered. "My dad hasn't left for work yet."

"I know," Lip replied. "I wanted to talk to him."

"About what?"

"You and me."

"You think that's going to help?"

"Would be nice to see you without the threat of being shot."

"He's not that extreme."

"You know what I mean."

Callie shrugged. She turned and called inside to Paul. "Dad, someone wants to talk to you!"

Paul came to the door. He scowled when he saw Lip.

"Hello, officer Madison," Lip said.

"Hello, Phillip," Paul said. "What can I do for you?"

"Sir, I know that you're not too fond of me. However, Callie is quite fond of me. And I am very fond of her." Callie smiled at this. "We have been seeing each other, and I apologize for not being forthright about it, but I would like to continue to seeing her. I'm not asking for your permission, I'm telling you this is my intention."

Paul sighed. "I'm just going to go with the typical dad response here. You do anything to hurt her, and I will hurt you. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"So, I take it you'll be staying?"

"We have a game night planned," Callie explained.

"Might order in something to eat," Lip added.

"Well, then. I'll leave you to it." Paul put on his hat and headed for the cruiser. After he drove away, Callie turned to Lip.

"He doesn't need to know that the game we're going to be playing is strip poker, right?" she asked.

"Right," Lip replied, with a sly smile.

Callie giggled and pulled him into the house.

A while later, Callie and Lip were sitting on the living room floor. Their poker game of five card draw was now in a tie. Callie was down to her bra and panties and Lip was in an undershirt and boxers. The competition was fierce, each of them displaying strong poker faces.

"What do you have?" Lip asked.

Callie lay her cards down showing a hand with two pair.

"Beat that!" she challenged.

"OK," Lip replied and he lay down his cards to reveal a full house. "Off with it."

Callie slipped the straps of her bra off her shoulders. Then she reached behind her and undid the hooks. She tossed her bra to Lip.

"Well?" she asked.

"Nice," he replied. He tugged at the front of his boxers and started to collect the cards. "Might be the last hand."

Callie put her over his. "What if we go double or nothing?"

Lip looked up at her. "I'm listening."

"If I win, you have to give me all of my clothes back."

"OK. But if I win?"

"I'll take off my panties, and you can have your way with me."

Lip thought about it for minute. "Any restrictions on that?"

"I don't do anal," she replied firmly.

"Good to know. OK, you've got yourself a deal."

They shook on it to seal the deal. Lip handed the cards to Callie. She shuffled them and called for a game with no wild cards. Then she dealt out the cards. Each of them looked the cards over, carefully considering which to keep and which to get rid of. After dealing three news cards to Lip and herself, Callie looked over to see a hint of a frown cross Lip's face.

"You wanna go first?" she asked.

"At the same time," he replied.

"On three. One…two…three."

They both lay their cards down. Callie's hand revealed a flush of spades, but Lip's beat her out with four of a kind.

"Holy shit," Callie said and she looked up at Lip. "Did that really just happen?"

"You're damn right it did," Lip grinned.

"You tricked me!"

"What? That little frown? That's how you play the game."

Callie picked up the rest of the deck and flicked them at Lip, sending the cards flying through the air. She squealed in surprise as Lip tackled her to the floor in retaliation. They both laughed at their deliciously silly behavior and starting kissing each other. After a moment, Callie pulled away from the kiss.

"Do you have something?" Callie asked.

Lip nodded. He grabbed his jeans off the floor and pulled a condom from the pocket.

"Only one?" Callie asked.

"Didn't want to press my luck."

"Smart boy."

They started kissing again, their hands roaming all over each other's bodies. Her hips grinded against his. Suddenly, Lip's cell phone started to ring.

"You gonna get that?" Callie asked.

Lip's hand came up to cup Callie's breast, his thumb circling her nipple

"You really want me to stop?" he countered.

"God, no."

"That's what I thought."

Lip kissed her neck as he continued to caress her nipples. Callie's hand slipped down the front of his boxers, stroking his hard cock. Then, Lip's phone started to ring again.

"Dammit," he said. He pulled Callie's hand away and dug his phone out of his jeans pocket. "Yeah?"

Callie could hear Fiona's desperate voice on the other end, but couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Calm down," Lip said into the phone. "What's going on? Fuck, Fiona. I _told_ you it needed to be replaced! Alright, calm down. Look, I'm at Callie's. I can be there in like twenty minutes. Yeah, you do. Big time. I will. Bye."

Lip ended the call and started to pull his jeans on.

"Trouble at home?" Callie asked, gathering up her clothes.

"The diner," Lip replied. "The piece-of-shit dishwasher stopped running. In the middle of a rush. Gonna go see if I can fix it."

Callie was quiet as they continued to dress.

"You OK?" Lip asked as he put his sneakers on.

"Yeah. I was just thinking."

"About?"

Callie sighed and smiled at him. "You're a good brother."

"Maybe, but I am short-changing you."

"Well, how about I go with you?"

Lip thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure how long it's going to take."

"That's OK. I just don't want to end the night on this note."

"Me, neither."

"Well, the sooner we get there and you fix the piece-of-shit dishwasher, the sooner we can get back and you can cash in your winnings."

Lip chuckled and then he kissed her. "Let's go."


	16. Chapter 16

**_Thank you for your patience. Happy reading! ;)_**

Chapter Sixteen: Shamelessly Screwing

Lip and Callie arrived at Patsy's a short time later. The dining room was packed with patrons. The staff was moving about at a frenzied pace. Even Fiona had been thrown into the mix of waiting tables, but she hurried over when she saw them walk in.

"Hey," Fiona said. "I'm so sorry to interrupt your night. If you can get it running, I'd really owe you one."

"If it is what I think it is, it won't take long," Lip said. Then he turned to Callie. "You should get yourself something while you're waiting."

"OK," Callie said.

She grabbed an empty seat at the counter as Lip headed to the kitchen. A minute later, Fiona set a glass of water down in front of her.

"I need to tell you something," Fiona said.

Callie looked up from her menu. "What?"

"I called Sierra in to help with the rush."

"Lip's ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

Callie thought this over. She was fairly certain that Sierra still harbored hurt feelings about the break up, and seeing Lip with her would only exacerbate those hurt feelings.

"Would you mind if I…" Callie asked, gesturing towards the kitchen.

"Go ahead," Fiona replied.

Callie hopped down from her seat and headed into the kitchen. She found Lip working on the dishwasher with a toolbox sitting on the counter nearby.

"Hey," Lip said, not looking up from his work.

"Hey, yourself," Callie said and leaned against the counter. "Anything I can do help?"

"Uh, maybe. It could use some lube."

"That's what she said."

He gave her a half smile. "All right, smartass. WD-40 and a flathead screwdriver."

Callie found both and handed them to Lip.

"You hiding out?" he asked.

"Something like that."

"You know, Sierra's no threat to you. You don't have to be afraid of her."

"I didn't say I was afraid of her."

"Then why are you back here with me?"

Callie shrugged. "Don't want to piss her off even more than she already is."

"She is not pissed off. She's…" Then Lip got very quiet.

"She's what?" Callie pressed.

Lip stopped his work and turned to look at her. "Devastated." Then he went back to his work.

"Shit. What happened between you two?"

Lip looked around the kitchen. "We shouldn't be talking about it here. The walls have ears."

"Oh. OK. Later, then."

A short time later, the diner filled with the sound of the dishwasher starting up. The staff all cheered. Lip put his tools back in the toolbox and wiped his hands on a dishtowel as Fiona came into the kitchen.

"Thank you so much," she said, hugging her brother.

"Get a new dishwasher," he said. "Soon."

"I will. Here."

She handed Lip a bag with a takeout container in it.

"Thanks," Lip said. Then he turned to Callie. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," Callie said. "Bye, Fiona!"

"See you later!" Fiona said.

Then Lip and Callie headed for the door. As they exited, Sierra was coming in. She and Callie exchanged a glance, but neither of them said a word.

"That could've gone bad," Lip said when they got out to the sidewalk.

"I don't need to start shit with her," Callie said. "But I _am_ interested in how it all went down."

"Fine. But if I'm gonna discuss my past relationships, I expect you to do the same."

"Fair deal."

When they got back to Callie's house, they set up on the living room floor and began to eat the appetizers Fiona gave them. Then Lip started to tell Callie about his history with Sierra. He told her about how he had just completed a stint in rehab after being expelled from college, and he hadn't been taking sobriety seriously when Sierra applied for a job at Patsy's. The two had started dating and quickly became serious. After an appeal hearing that failed to overturn his expulsion, Lip's drinking had spiraled out of control. Sierra then broke up with him and reconnected with her ex, her son's father. After starting AA, Lip had tried to break up Sierra and her ex without success. It eventually came to light that Sierra's ex had gotten another girl pregnant while they were broken up, and Sierra ended the relationship. Sierra had had other problems that she told Lip about, and he did what he could to help solve them. In the end, Lip was focused on Sierra's issues at a time when he really needed to focus on himself and his sobriety. So, he ended it with Sierra.

True to her word, Callie told Lip about her most recent ex. The summer after her sophomore year of college, she had attended a party where a mutual friend introduced her to Erick. He went down on her after their first date. When summer ended, Erick headed back to his school, where he had had a scholarship to play baseball while majoring in accounting. Callie remained at her local school, but the two had kept in touch and visited on weekends as often as they could. It was on a weekend visit just after midterms that Erick had confessed to cheating on Callie. It was something Callie wasn't going to put up with, so she broke up with him on the spot. He had pleaded for a second chance but Callie was unable to forgive him.

"So, that was it?" Lip asked. Callie nodded. "Damn. You don't mess around."

"No, I don't," Callie said. "Because I had been cheated on before that, but that's a story for another day."

"That's crazy. How could a guy ever cheat on a girl like you?" Callie let a nervous laugh. "What?"

"A girl like me, huh?"

Lip slid closer to her. "Callie, you are smart, and nurturing, and beautiful…"

"And sexy?" she asked coyly.

He cupped her face with his hand. "Incredibly sexy."

Then he kissed her. Callie's arms wrapped around him. It quickly escalated into hungry, needful kisses. Lip broke away as he pulled Callie's shirt off over her head. Then he pulled off his own shirt as Callie removed her bra. She gasped when his lips went to her nipple, gently sucking on her. Lip gently nudged her back onto the floor. His hips pressed against her and she could feel that he was hard. She reached into his pants pocket, taking out the condom.

Lip pulled away slightly. He undid Callie's pants before undoing his own. Callie rolled the condom onto his hard cock.

"I told you," Lip said as he positioned himself. "You are gonna get it good."

Before Callie could say anything, he thrust into her hard. She gasped.

"It feels so good," Callie moaned, and she rocked her hips against him.

"Yeah, it does," Lip agreed.

Her legs wrapped around him as he continued with deep, hard thrusts. Callie fell into a rhythm with him, her hips meeting his with every thrust. Lip groaned in pleasure.

"Fuck, Callie," he said breathlessly.

She muttered swear words in between her moans as their pace quickened. She looked up at him to see beads of sweat start to form at his hairline.

"Almost there," Callie managed to say.

"Me, too," Lip groaned.

A minute later, Callie's hands grabbed his ass and pulled him closer as she came. A couple more short, deep thrusts brought Lip to his own climax. After a brief moment, Lip lay beside her on the floor. A long silence passed before Callie spoke.

"I could get used to this," she said.

"What, fucking on your living room floor?" Lip asked.

Callie let out a small laugh and turned her head to look at him. "No. Just…being with you."

Lip thought about it for a moment and then turned to look at her. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Callie shifted onto her side and curled up against Lip, her head resting on his chest. "Stay," she said.

Lip wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I will."


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: Continuing this story, I had to take into consideration as to whether or not I was going to add in details from Season 9. I have decided that since I began the story before season 9 started, I will continue it as such. Hope you guys enjoy!**

Chapter Seventeen: Shameless Scheming

Callie walked up the front porch steps of the Gallagher house and knocked on the door.

"It's open!" someone yelled from somewhere inside.

She opened the door and made her way inside. In the few weeks that she and Lip had been dating, she had become very comfortable at the Gallaghers. She spent a lot of her free time there and often spent the night when Paul was working.

"Hey, all!" Callie called out as she took off her coat and draped it over the back of the couch.

"In here!" Liam called from the kitchen, not looking up from his homework. Callie walked into the kitchen. "Lip should be home soon."

"That's fine." Then Callie sat down at the kitchen table. She glanced at Liam's math worksheet. "You need any help with that?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Liam finished the last question and got up from the table to put it away. Just then, Ian came down the stairs.

"Hey, Callie," he said and he sat down at the table. "Thought I heard your voice."

"You not working today?" Callie asked.

"No. I, uh…had some appointments today." Then he glanced away.

"Oh. Is that…is that good?"

"Well…yeah. I mean, they said I can get the ankle monitor taken off at the end of the week."

"That is good." Then an awkward silence passed between them. "If you don't mind me asking, why were you arrested in the first place?"

Ian let out a long sigh, but managed a small smile. "Lip told you our mom was bipolar, right?" Callie nodded. "Well, turns out it's genetic."

"Oh. You're also bipolar."

"Yup."

Now that Callie thought back on it, she had often seen Ian taking pills during breakfasts at the house. She never would have been bold enough to question what it was that he was taking.

"Anyway," Ian continued. "I was off my meds and went on this personal mission to save LGBTQ kids from conversion therapy. I just…I was on an extreme manic high and told people to blow up a van."

"Oh, shit."

Callie then remembered catching wind of the news story while sitting with her grandmother in the hospital. She hadn't had the chance to follow it as she was faced with her grandmother's death.

"Yeah. So, in order to get the monitor off is getting back on the meds and having regular check-ins with the court-appointed psychologist."

"And you're doing all that."

"Yeah, but it's not easy. The last time it had gotten this bad, I had someone helping me through it."

"Oh. A boyfriend?" Ian glanced away, but the smile on his face confirmed that it was. "Well, where is he now?"

Ian shook his head. "It's complicated."

Just then the front door opened and Lip walked in. He was still dressed in his work clothes and had a few grocery bags with him.

"Hey, guys," he said, walking into the kitchen. "What are you up to?"

"Telling Callie about gay Jesus," Ian replied.

Lip rolled his eyes. "Good God, I never want to hear those words ever again." Then he started to unload the grocery bags.

"Hey, just promise me we're not going to make a big deal out of the monitor coming off."

"Too late for that. Debbie's already planning to make you a cake."

"People actually celebrate getting off of house arrest?" Callie asked.

"South Siders do," Ian replied with a shrug.

"Any excuse to celebrate," Frank added coming down the stairs. The smell of alcohol radiated off of him. He went to the fridge and pulled out another beer. "But be warned. Gallagher parties usually don't always end well."

"What does that mean?" Callie asked.

"It means Frank needs to shut his fucking mouth," Ian said coolly. "We don't need to bring up shit from the past." He got up from the table and grabbed his cigarettes off the counter before walking out the back door, slamming it shut behind him.

"Are you planning on doing anything at all productive today?" Lip asked Frank.

"Oh, that reminds me," Frank said. He walked over to the washing machine and started switching laundry to the dryer. When he was done, he raised his beer to Lip and headed back upstairs.

Callie got up from the table and came up behind Lip, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Missed you," she said.

"You, too," he replied. He turned to face her. "How do stand being so close to me after getting home from work? Pretty sure I don't smell so great right now."

"I like it." She put her face to his chest and inhaled the slight scent of sweat and engine grease. "It kinda turns me on."

Lip gave her a devilish grin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the floor, setting her down on the countertop. Callie giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, drawing him closer. Then they kissed, each pressing their bodies lightly against each other.

"Oh, ew!"

They pulled away from each other to see Debbie walking into the kitchen with Franny on her hip.

"You have a bedroom you know," she said, disgusted.

"Jealous?" Lip asked his sister.

Debbie scoffed. "Not even!" She offered Franny to Lip who took the toddler in his arms and blew a raspberry on her cheek.

Callie hopped down from the counter. "If Debbie's making a cake for Ian, is there anything I can do to help with the party?"

Debbie froze and slowly turned to Callie.

"Actually," she said. "There might be, but it all depends on how you feel about exploiting your dad's position on the police force and utilizing the people he knows."

"Debs," Lip said with a warning tone.

"C'mon, Lip. This would make Ian so insanely happy."

Everyone stopped talking when Ian came back into the house. "Hey, Debs. Did you get the mail?"

"Yeah, nothing good," she replied.

Ian frowned at this news.

"You expecting something?" Callie asked.

Ian turned to her. "Something from my, uh…boyfriend."

"Well, prison mail does suck," Lip said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Ian replied.

Then he headed off up the stairs. Once he was out of earshot, Callie gave Lip and Debbie a sly smile.

"I'll do it," she said.

"You're sure about this?" Lip asked.

"I'm one of you, aren't I? Just tell me what I need to do."

Callie had planned on staying at the Gallaghers that night. But when Lip and Debbie told her about her task for Ian's party, she knew she would have no time to waste. Once she knew all the details, her brain quickly started formulating a plan to get it done. She left the house and headed out to catch the bus downtown. She departed the bus in front of the courthouse. She went inside and made her way to the third floor, where she was greeted by a receptionist.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm Callie Madison, here to see Judge Everson," Callie said.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I am an old family friend."

Just then, the office door opened and a tall gentleman with salt & pepper hair emerged. He was dressed in a button-down shirt and tie, and crisp, pleated slacks with suspenders.

"Hello, Callie," he said.

Callie smiled. "Hey, Daniel."

Callie walked over to him and extended her hand, which he took in both of his.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother's passing," he said.

"Thank you."

Daniel motioned for her to enter his office and told the receptionist to hold his calls. Callie went in and he closed the door behind them. She sat down in an overstuffed armchair across from his desk.

"Just saw your dad last week," Daniel said, sitting down in his desk chair. "Had lunch together."

"Cool," Callie said. "He talk about me?"

Daniel shrugged. "A little bit. He did tell me about your, uh…new relationship."

"I knew he would."

"Are you happy?"

"I am."

Daniel smiled. "Good," he said. "You deserve that. So, is this just us shooting the breeze or is there something that I can help you with?"

"Well, you do know the company I'm keeping these days. So, it's not necessarily what you can do for me, or them, but what you can do for a friend of theirs."

Callie pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and slid it across the desk. Daniel picked it up and unfolded it. He stared at it for a long moment and then let out a long sigh.

"Callie," he said. "This isn't going to be easy."

"I'm not asking you to do anything illegal," she said.

Daniel sat back in his chair and folded his hands. "I hope you came here prepared to make a more convincing argument than just me knowing your father for thirty-plus years."

Callie gave him a sly smile. "Oh, yes."

On Friday evening, Callie arrived at the Gallagher house and let herself into the house. Music was playing on the stereo as Fiona, Vee and Ian danced about the living room. Debbie was also rocking back and forth to the music with Franny on her hip. The others were scattered about the living room, either talking, drinking or eating.

Ian was the first to notice Callie's arrival. He came over to her and greeted her with a big hug.

"Look," he said and he pulled up his pant leg. The ankle monitor had been removed. "I'm finally free."

Callie smiled at him. "Congratulations."

"Thanks. Hey, you want a beer?"

"Not right now," Callie replied.

Ian shrugged and went back to dancing. Then Lip came over and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

"You can have a drink if you want one," Lip said.

"I know," Callie said.

"Is everything ready?"

Then Callie's cell phone dinged. She took it from her pocket and quickly typed a response to a text message.

"Yes," she said.

A minute later the song on the stereo ended. During the few seconds of quiet, the back door opened and closed. Ian turned towards the kitchen and he froze, his eyes wide.

"Holy fuck," he said.

"What?" Fiona asked.

Everyone turned towards the kitchen. There, by the back door, stood a scruffy-looking dark haired guy. He was dressed in baggy jeans and a flannel shirt. Callie looked around the room as everyone stared at the guy with wide eyes and gaping mouths. The guy locked eyes with Ian and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Sorry I'm late."


	18. Chapter 18

_**Author's note: Just letting y'all know that I haven't forgotten about this story. Enjoy!**_

Chapter Eighteen: Shameless Celebrations

"Mickey," Ian said quietly.

He pushed past everyone and rushed to the kitchen, throwing his arms around Mickey and holding him tightly. Mickey hugged Ian just as tight. Then they shared a quick kiss. Mickey grabbed a beer before the couple returned to the living room. The others greeted him with hugs and slaps on the back. Then Mickey looked at Callie.

"You Lip's girl?" he asked.

Callie smiled and introduced herself. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You, too." As the two shook hands, Mickey leaned in and whispered a thank you to her.

"How is this even happening right now?" Kevin asked. "They didn't just…let you out of jail."

"Nah," Mickey said, and he took a swig from his beer. "It's kind of complicated, though."

They all gathered around Mickey as he told his story. He had previously been in jail for attempted murder of the Gallaghers' half-sister Sammi. He believed she had it coming for ratting Ian out to military police for his pre-diagnosis mania. After awhile Mickey broke out of jail and fled the country. When news of the gay Jesus movement got to him, Mickey turned himself in. He managed to work out a plea deal and got locked up in the prison where Ian was. However, Ian's lawyer teamed up with mental health advocates and were able to negotiate his release.

"Three days ago, the judge came to visit me with a shrink," Mickey explained. "They asked me a whole bunch of questions. Then this morning, I got word that I was going to be released."

"Why?" Vee asked.

Mickey shrugged. "Maybe they think I'm mental. I don't know."

"This sounds too good to be true," Liam pointed out.

"Well, catch is I'm getting picked up tomorrow morning to go to a halfway house. I don't know all the details yet."

"Well, then," Fiona said. "We celebrate tonight."

Everyone agreed and toasted to celebrating the night. The party continued into the night, with drinks flowing and music blasting in the Gallaghers' living room. Ian was never far from Mickey's side, feeling the need to maintain some form of physical contact with him.

Debbie was first to bow out of the party, carrying a very cranky Franny off to bed. When Amy and Gemma fell asleep, Kev and Vee took it as a sign that it was time to go. They scooped up the slumbering twins and carried them home. Liam agreed to stay over at Fiona's apartment while Carl would spend the night on the living room couch, leaving their shared bedroom to Ian and Mickey for the night.

"What about the mess?" Mickey asked.

They looked around the living room at the scattered paper plates, pizza boxes and empty beer bottles.

"Fuck it," Lip said. "We'll clean it up in the morning."

The others shrugged and headed upstairs to bed. Once in his room, Lip wrapped his arms around Callie and kissed her deeply.

"What was that for?" she asked when the kiss broke.

"You are amazing," he said. Callie giggled. "You are. I don't know how you pulled this off."

"Nothing illegal. Just calling in favors."

"Tell me."

"My dad is good friends with the judge that handled Mickey's case. They really felt the pressure of the mental health advocates descending upon them to get Ian released, so I played that to my advantage. All I had to do was convince him that releasing Mickey would be beneficial to Ian's mental health."

"That's it?"

"That's it. I can be very persuasive, you know."

Lip gave her a devilish grin and went in for another kiss, but stopped.

"What?" Callie asked.

"You don't hear that?" he asked.

Callie listened carefully. Faintly, she could hear the sound of a rhythmic thumping against the wall. A little smile crept to her face.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

Lip nodded and the two of them shared a small laugh.

"I'm surprised Ian didn't jump Mickey the minute he walked in the door," Lip said.

Callie nodded. "Well, this is their night."

"Agreed. Let's get to bed."

Callie got changed into her pajamas while Lip stripped down to his boxers. Then they climbed into Lip's bed. Callie snuggled close to him, resting her head on his chest. She closed her eyes, about to drift off to sleep.

"Callie?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Callie's eyes opened. She turned to look up at Lip and she smiled.

"I love you, too," she said.

Lip smiled back at her and they kissed again.


End file.
